Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has awarded an AED 46 million contract for the first phase of the construction of its new headquarters. The contract for the Al-Sheraa building has been awarded to Dutco Balfour Beatty, who offered the lowest bid and competed with 10 leading international companies, DEWA said in a statement.

The contract for phase

1 includes shoring, dewatering, excavation, piling, fencing and associated works, it added. DEWA said Al- Sheraa will be the "tallest, largest, and smartest government net zero energy building in the world", adding that it will spread over 2 million square feet in the heart of the Cultural Village in Al Jadaf, Dubai.

The building will use robots for cleaning and providing security services. A smart app will also alert the employees about the time they should leave their homes based on the traffic. The same app can be used to book parking spaces and meeting rooms. It can be also be used by visitors to easily reach the building and meeting rooms.

Al-Sheraa will have 16,500 sq. m. of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof to produce over 3,500 kilowatts (kW). The building will also include an additional 2,000 square metres of building-integrated photovoltaic panels. The total renewable energy generated from the building is over 5,800 megawatt hours (MWh) per year. The building will be completed and inaugurated in the last quarter of 2019, DEWA said.

“By building Al-Sheraa, we establish a role model in Dubai and the world to achieve a balance between development and the environment, to protect the right of future generations to live in a clean, healthy and safe environment,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of DEWA